Financial support · India
Scholarships for Indian students
A scholarship is never guaranteed — but the Indian education system has hundreds of schemes across central, state, minority, and private trusts. The list below is a curated starting point. Always verify eligibility and deadlines on the official portal before applying.
Start here: scholarships.gov.in (NSP)
The National Scholarship Portal aggregates most central and many state schemes. One registration lets you apply to several schemes in parallel.
Open the portalCentral government schemes
| Scheme | Who can apply | Amount | Official site |
|---|---|---|---|
Central Sector Scheme of Scholarships (CSSS) Ministry of Education | Students with >80 percentile in Class 12 board, family income ≤ ₹8 LPA. | ₹12,000/year (UG) · ₹20,000/year (PG) | Visit |
Post-Matric Scholarship (SC / ST) Min. of Social Justice / Tribal Affairs | SC/ST students in post-Class-10 studies; income-linked. | Tuition + maintenance (state slabs) | Visit |
Post-Matric Scholarship for OBC Min. of Social Justice & Empowerment | OBC students pursuing post-Class-10 courses, family income ≤ ₹2.5 LPA. | Tuition + monthly stipend | Visit |
Pragati & Saksham (AICTE) AICTE | Girl students (Pragati) & specially-abled students (Saksham) in AICTE-approved tech programmes. | Up to ₹50,000/year | Visit |
PM Yashasvi Scholarship Min. of Social Justice & Empowerment | OBC / EBC / DNT students in Classes 9–10 and 11–12. | Up to ₹1.25 lakh/year (Class 11–12) | Visit |
National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship (NMMS) Ministry of Education | Class 8 students from families with income ≤ ₹3.5 LPA. | ₹12,000/year (Class 9–12) | Visit |
Merit & science talent
| Scheme | Who can apply | Amount | Official site |
|---|---|---|---|
INSPIRE Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) DST, Government of India | Top-1% in Class 12 board OR national science olympiad winners pursuing B.Sc/M.Sc. | ₹80,000/year + summer research grant | Visit |
Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) — archived DST (archived) | Science-stream students (Class 11 to 1st year B.Sc). Scheme is discontinued; similar support via INSPIRE. | Historic: ₹5,000–7,000/month | Visit |
Prime Minister's Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) AICTE | UG students from J&K and Ladakh pursuing general, engineering, medical, or management courses outside their UT. | Up to ₹1.25 lakh/year tuition + ₹1 lakh hostel | Visit |
NTSE — archived NCERT (archived) | Class-10 students (scheme discontinued from 2022). | Historic: ₹1,250–2,000/month | Visit |
Girls, minorities & specially-abled
| Scheme | Who can apply | Amount | Official site |
|---|---|---|---|
Begum Hazrat Mahal Scholarship Maulana Azad Education Foundation | Minority-community girls in Classes 9–12 with family income ≤ ₹2 LPA. | ₹5,000 (Class 9–10) · ₹6,000 (Class 11–12) | Visit |
MCM Scholarship for Minority Students Min. of Minority Affairs | Students from notified minority communities in professional / technical courses. | Course fees + maintenance allowance | Visit |
CBSE Single Girl Child Scholarship CBSE | Single girl child who scored ≥ 60% in Class 10 CBSE and continuing Class 11–12. | ₹500/month for 2 years | Visit |
Private trusts & aggregators
| Scheme | Who can apply | Amount | Official site |
|---|---|---|---|
Reliance Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship Reliance Foundation | 5,000 UG students per year; merit + need. | Up to ₹2 lakh (one-time) | Visit |
Tata Trusts Scholarships Tata Trusts | Need-based scholarships across UG & PG, especially women in STEM. | Varies by programme | Visit |
Buddy4Study — aggregator Buddy4Study (NGO) | Open aggregator listing 1,000+ government and private scholarships. | Varies per scheme | Visit |
A simple 5-step checklist
- 1Create a National Scholarship Portal (NSP) account at scholarships.gov.in.
- 2Keep scanned copies of Aadhaar, Class 10 & 12 marksheets, income certificate, domicile, and bank passbook ready.
- 3Note deadlines — most central schemes close between Oct and Nov each year.
- 4Apply to multiple schemes — eligibility often overlaps.
- 5Cross-check on the official state portal too (Jnanabhumi AP, TS ePASS, Karnataka SSP, etc.).
Watch out for scams
- • No genuine scholarship asks for a processing fee.
- • Apply only through official portals (.gov.in, .nic.in) or reputed trust websites.
- • Don't share OTPs or your NSP password with anyone — not even a school office.